I had to get the collar at the junk yard. But if you are gonna change the diff bearings you could just pop off the axle and tube and you can tell by looking if the collars bad. Wish i would of took a pic of what my moms did. the collar slid off the axle and chewed it all to hell.

As far as pains go the one i work on for my mom is a pain. Been through one CV shaft, dash switch, encoder motor, collar and axle, transfer case switch, vacume accautor, and a whole lot of vacume line. All that stuff was just to get the 4x4 working. This was during one of the worst winter i have ever seen.

I Hope you get it fixed.

 

now i have the switch replaced, no more vacum in 2 hi, but noise still there. whats the name of the collar that needs to be replaced? i called the dealer and tried to explain it to them but they dont have any idea what i am talking about. can i just remove the collar for now? the diff oil looked like crap, dark and metalic. hell i cant even fine a diff for this thing. i have a feeling this thing is going to lock up on me why im driving it, only way of getting around. do i need to pull the hub assy and cv axle to get this " colllar" out? should have traded it in when they were doing the "cash for clunkers deal".

 

Disconnect the cable at the front diff and push in on the shift fork (the shaft that is sticking out that the cable connects to). Then work the cable back and forth until it is completely free moving putting some light oil onto the cable, working it in. See if that gets rid of your noise.

 

do you mean disconnect the cable by removing the tube assy that the cable goes though at the diff by removing the 3 bolts, or remove the cable at the back of the tube assy? you also sent a diagram with all the parts from the axle to the diff assy, they were numbered, would you happen to have the list that tell what the numbered parts are? thanks

 

Remove the three bolts.

And no, I do not have the list of parts. That image was posted by another member quite a while ago.

 

ok, did that, cable was seized up, but also the spring that connects the cable to the fork piston seems to be broke, found a small part of spring in the housing that the cable end goes through. i called auto stores and they cam get the cable but have no idea what im talking about when i try to explain the spring keeper to them. do i need to get this from the dealer? how far should the piston move, .5 in? thanks for all your help.

 

Total travel should be 0.5" to 0.75". The dealer or junkyard will be the best bet for the parts.

You might want to pull the passenger side extension tube off to make sure that the collar and gears are not damaged beyond salvage.

 

i was able to use a small rod i made up to keep the piston retracted, drove it and the growling noise is still there, so either its messed up the axle and collar, the diff, or both. do i need to pull the hub assy to remove the axle that goes to the diff? or can i just unbolt it from the cv axle and have enough romm to pull it that way? if the axle and collar are bad could it have tore up the diff?

 

That depends on how your CV shafts connect to the axle. If they are flanged with a ring of bolts, you can drop the passenger side axle tube without doing anything extra. If the CV shaft is a splined slip in style connection, then you will have to either pop a ball joint, or remove the wheel bearing.

 

ok, when switched to 4 wheel, does the cable at the acuater pull in on the fork assy at the front diff assy? then when back to 2 wheel the springs push it back out of gear? i was under the thought that with the retainer clip on the cable broke that it was tring to go to 4 wheel, but after thinking about it i dont think thats how it works, the cable pulls it into gear. maybe my bearing in the axle tube are bad, are they hard to replace? do i need a press?